Young entrepreneurs encourage financial literacy in fifth graders

by Nicola Middlemiss11 Sep 2014

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Young entrepreneurs encourage financial literacy in fifth graders

A collection of talented young entrepreneurs met with the president and CEO of the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) after their college project aimed at promoting financial literacy in youngsters wowed national Enactus judges.

The Okanagan College team was first introduced to CEO Michel Kelly-Gagnon in April when they participated in the national Enactus competition, where Kelly-Gagnon was a judge. "In my view, one of the best initiatives presented, if not the best, was the InStill Life project from the Enactus Okanagan College team," said Kelly-Gagnon.

The aspiring team's project, InStill Life, teaches financial literacy, entrepreneurship, personal selling and micro lending to pre-teens. The project, which has gained momentum over the past six years, sees elementary school students develop micro-businesses that generate profits which are then directed to other small businesses around the world through a micro-lending program.

"Our objective is to facilitate the implementation this program, or a similar program, here in Quebec," explained Kelly-Gagnon, who personally invited the college students and their mentors to make a presentation to the MEI board.

Following the appointment of Jane Rooney as Canada's very first Financial Literacy Leader earlier this year, it's encouraging to see ever increasing support for the fundamentally important topic which is largely ignored by schools.